The Italian Nintendo/Sony gamer

Male, 25, Italy

Italian gamer belonging to both the Nintendo fanbase and - to a lesser extent - the Sony and Xbox fanbases. Currently holding out for the Gameboy Advance's official VC debut on the 3DS eShop. [Warning: my Facebook page linked below is in Italian.]

Recent Comments

I suspect the fact this is free is a countermeasure to the inevitable, if small, backlash that's to be expected due to yet another Nintendo semi-exclusive (well, Steam aside - hence the "semi-") becoming available on another console with added extra (that is, Shovel Knight on Playstation consoles, with a cameo from - who else? - Kratos, Sony's alternative to Wolverine omnipresence-wise).

But maybe seeing this as damage control is mean thinking on my part. Whatever, freebies!

Why, you ask? First, it's the awesome boss battle theme from the first SaGa; second, it's the same music that's more famous as the basis for the remix heard in the well-known fan animation, Michael Quest III. Look it up on Youtube, it's pretty fun.

@aaronsullivanThis. Also, the NintendoLife column ("Damian tells you why he doesn't need GTA V", or whatever it was titled) I just mentioned in my earlier comment? On the brighter side of things, the whole "foxes and sour grapes" approach I alluded to, well, it applies to Sony and Xbox fans as well. They all say that Nintendo's own IPs are "teh kiddie!!!11!!11", but truth be told, while not necessarily mature, said IPs are fun, which is all that matters, which is why those fans wish they had "teh kiddie" on their own consoles (remember that fan letter to get Super Smash Bros. on the PSVita a few months ago? Yeah).

Besides, I also own an Xbox 360, mostly in order to play the same "multiplatform" games that Nintendo consoles oh-so-casually happen to miss out on (hence the quotation marks) except I buy them only when they're on sale. Nintendo games are still the ones that deserve the heftier price tags.

Considering that Grand Theft Auto V didn't come out on Nintendo consoles (heck, NO GTA games have come out on Nintendo home consoles so far, and before you mention it, no, Body Harvest for N64 does NOT count) and was so much of an enormous success that @Damo had to write a column with plenty of foxes and sour grapes in order to cheer us up... yeah, you know where this is going.

Seriously, a sandbox game on the WiiU wouldn't have hurt in the slightest (especially if it's as tongue-in-cheek as Saints' Row is, given it's best known as "the antithesis to Grand Theft Auto"), but in the end the closest we got to this genre was LEGO City Undercover, which - in spite of its undeniable quality - basically was a morality-flipped GTA game with some platforming thrown in for good measure. Nintendo should have helped this game's development as they did with Bayonetta 2, but apparently not even the WiiU is enough for an actual sandbox game (on the other hand, the DS saw an actual GTA game in the form of Chinatown Wars, because money).

As for me however, I'm going to do the same I've already done with "Mario Vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!" on my 3DS: build entire levels around a single gameplay element. It's an easy trick to find out how creative you can get with a given tool, whether it is a springboard, a platform, a powerup, or in MvsDK's case, even an element that appears in one setting alone. Creativity over limits, basically.

Saw it yesterday, and while such commitment in making levels never ceases to amaze me, if there's moderation with zero tolerance on kaizo-like levels for online Mario Maker stages I will be infinitely happy. Cheap-hard level design does not equal good game design. Making difficult but fair levels is one thing, making cheap stages is just as much of a cheap shortcut towards recognition. Period.

Heck, even before Mario Maker was announced, the largest Super Mario World modding website - SMWCentral - has a strict "No kaizo" rule. And that should say a lot.

If only this game came out back when the 3DS was - before the WiiU - the subject of Nintendo-related doom 'n' gloom. Heck, if only games of the "big guns" variety (metaphorically speaking; pun not intended) come out before, consoles wouldn't struggle as much as they do. If Super Mario 3D World and New Super Mario Bros U swapped release dates, Rayman Legends would still be the console exclusive we were promised. But instead, the 3DS started off with - ugh - Steel Diver, and the WiiU had NintendoLand as a launch title. The DS, however? An enhanced remake of Super Mario 64, which didn't even need enhancements to begin with. And boy, did it show.

However, back on topic! This game looks amazing, which only helps as this is pretty much the FPS for Nintendo handhelds for the time being (Metroid Prime Hunters and Moon were released earlier, and this seems way more determined to provide the very same FPS experience seen on other consoles anyway.)

I kind of disagree with @KickButt_Gaming, and for one exact reason: I happen to own an Xbox 360 as well, and if there's one thing Nintendo needs to step up with, it's prices and sales. Not the graphics, mind you: I don't give an intercourse about either the Xbox One or the Playstation 4 having life-like graphics, because that's not what gaming is - and should be - about. However, the massive sale I've witnessed (and took advantage of) last weekend got me thinking: Nintendo's most recent discount was Super Mario 3D World, sold for forty euros instead of the usual sixty; last weekend's Xbox 360 sale allowed me to snatch Saints' Row The Third for less than five euros, which is eight times cheaper than the discounted price for 3D World and a mind-boggling TWELVE times considering 3D World's usual price.

Another comparison that comes to mind is the Club Nintendo rewards. While I have to admit that interesting offers ARE popping up as of late (such as the Super Smash Bros./Pokémon OmegaRuby-AlphaSapphire allowing users to snatch a free game), the most generous [generous towards customers, that is; I'm well aware of all the charity Nintendo's done this far, let alone the free DSis handed out during the latest Japanese earthquake] reward used to be an old title, usually sold for five bucks or more, given as a freebie. And when you see, again, the Xbox sales (seriously, those are a serious contender to the "Most ridiculously cheap game sales" award alongside the well-known Steam sales), and compare Halo 3 - not counting as a game, but rather as the Microsoft flagship franchise - to the first Super Mario Bros. game being sold at the same price, you can't help but admit that Nintendo needs to be a bit more courageous.

I used the word "admit" in the last sentence because I'm a proud Nintendo fan nonetheless: check out my user page, I still identify myself as a hardcore Nintendo fan because I know that Ninty still wins when it comes to the sheer amount of value seen in their IPs. However, the whole approach to prices (and the slow turn to digital that comes along) is something I can't defend, at least not fully - because saying Nintendo is right in everything they do would be just fanboyish and unobjective all the same. When a friend of mine - basically my Bizarro version when it comes to gaming, as he owns an Xbox One and I'm giving him my emptied Wii after transferring the older data towards my WiiU - says "Welcome to the new millennium, Nintendo" whenever it comes to my favorite company's approach to online, I can't help but nod.

@XCWarrior
Much like @Quorthon, I agree as well. If I had the money, I would not only buy every Smash amiibo, but also ask for other trophies in toy form as well. Cards, on the other hand? Everyone can print a Mario image on a card. Give us some actual Nintendo merchandise!

Smooth McGroove is just awesome. I fell in love with his music the second I heard his acapella renditions for the first time. And the Oath To Order, the way he sang it... goosebumps all around for what can be described as relaxing - if a bit sad perhaps - musical bliss.

@DBPirate
Thing is, I'm not even mad for Rayman not being in Smash. I'm mad because this guy likely expected the internet to laugh it off, as seen in the intro to his video (he even said he regretted showing that smug smile), after building expectations and using said expectations to promote his own channel. Again, the guy is talented, credit where it's due; however, said talent is going to drown under tons of hating comments. Way to go, troll, way to go.

@DBPirateGood thing the troll had the decency - or, maybe, I should say common sense - not to do this with the Ice Climbers or Ridley (or Wolf, or Snake, or Lucas); now that would have earned him haters.

As a huge Smash fan and as an admirer of the series' ability to gather several franchises (not to mention each one's own fandom), I won't comment on this fake leak. Most likely because the gruesome imagery going on in my twisted mind would get me banned in no time.

This guy is a mix of a troll and an attention seeker, using the smashers' hype to promote his own channel. I commented on his video that he used his talent to poke on a hornets' nest, and therefore had it coming. Heck, the top comment for the video is even his own "I'm scared..."; well, guy totally deserves such fear. Good luck to him, I guess.

@shaneohI've first seen the "It's dangerous to go alone" music video just yesterday, amusing how I stumbled upon your profile pic.(Content warning: if you guys look it up, it's made by Egoraptor, so it goes without saying that it's NOT for kids despite the lack of gore in it.)

Awesome to see that a Smash Bros voice actor - let alone the fourth announcer himself - is so in touch with fan projects (if we can call The Completionist and Did You Know Gaming just that, anyway) and the like, despite the man himself clearly stating in a video on his Youtube channel he couldn't just shout "Ridley!" in his announcer voice (still, that was due to the 50-fact Direct not having been shown yet).

A far cry from Shulk's VA (Adam Howden if I recall correctly) tweeting he was gonna voice a character but not telling who because he feared "his gonads would be cut off for telling" (paraphrasing).

@ThomasBW84I thought I'd chime in and ask you if just having a CN account does the trick or if I need anything else to get this gem I've been waiting way too long for. As far as our good ol' Europe goes, anyway.

Amusingly, I did a Wii-to-WiiU data transfer yesterday. I was about to complain about how complex it was, but my whining got smothered by the fluffy adorableness of the way it was portrayed: Pikmin taking the data to a spaceship and said spaceship blasting off towards the WiiU. I couldn't make that up if I tried.

This is one of the few things I actually hate about Nintendo: if a console starts picking up steam, then a cool game goes back behind a glass with the caption "In case of emergency, break glass" written on it.

It seems it takes bad - or initially bad, anyway - hardware sales (Mario Maker and Super Smash Bros for 3DS, anyone?) for "trump card" games to come out. I mean, I'm sure the DS could have handled a polished port of the first Super Smash Bros, but the console was selling so well that the idea of a portable SSB was put behind the breakable window once more. I'm being a bit of a "conspiracy theorist" here in terms of sheer lack of logic, but bear with me. I can't be the only one thinking that the Wii getting poor sales would have resulted in a Wii version of Mario Maker.

@MegaWattsI've already said it, but I really hope there's a "New Day" sandbox mode as postgame content, much in the vein of Another Day in the awesome The World Ends With You (and much like that, with an option to return to the three day-loop).I'm not sure if I'll manage to snag this one as soon as I hope, but surely such a mode would boost this game's priority a lot.

Just downloaded it, gave it a try. While FPSes are not my territory in gaming, I'm well aware this is an outstanding bargain and that's the second reason I got it. The first one is, well, that my FPS-crazed Xbox lover of a friend is going to have one heck of a time next time he comes over. Kudos to Nintendo for kickstarting so well the Wii download service!

One of the many improvements I noticed is the soundtrack. I couldn't believe they could top the first game's music, and yet (following the wider array of settings) they pulled it off. For those who only played the first game: I've beaten the first two bosses, and to put the improvement into perspective, each boss has his own song now. What a wonderful little gem of a game. I only wish I bought the first one sooner, especially considering I was waiting for the GBA Ambassador games at the time.

I was about to describe the Mario Maker delay as "a backstab I was expecting considering the game wasn't even mentioned in the latest direct", but then again, the first comment here stated a very good point. I'm still hopeful for this one, as long as it's not canceled. Because, you know, we've seen a lot of level editors in the Mario Vs Donkey Kong series so far, and yet we're still waiting for a proper, well, Mario maker game. Hopefully Nintendo won't backpedal on this one.

Ouch, despite the announcement of a second Marvel LEGO game being awesome news, to me the fact that it'll adapt the Avengers sequel is kinda worrisome. You know, the LEGO adaptations tend to soften the most dramatic moments of their source material, and now I'm worried that such a treatment will be needed in the wake of the new film. You know, Hawkeye has a larger role now, but then again, it's a movie directed by Joss Whedon, meaning the extra time might be used to kill the character off. And in the trailer, Hawkeye owns a farm...